MySpace's fashionable child launches new designers

By Jane Lee

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Young designers competing to get noticed by fashion labels can now launch their careers online through the fashion world's answer to the social networking Web site MySpace.com.

Fashionspace.com was created by 23-year-old London fashion graduate Holly Bellm last October and is fast becoming to fashionistas what MySpace is to amateur musicians, with 20,000 members in 120 countries frequenting the site every day.

"While I was studying fashion...MySpace was becoming the best place for (talent scouts) finding the next big band and unsigned artists," Bellm told Reuters.

"I saw all this amazing creative talent around me and thought: why not do the same for fashion?" she said.

The Web site www.fashionspace.com features photographs of models posing in higher selling members' designs, and advertisements for their fashion shows.

"Our core is to try to help young designers break into the market we're looking at the tools to get them more sales," Bellm said.

Fashionspace allows members to swap, buy and sell their original designs, second-hand clothes and accessories, with a 10 percent commission of every sale going to Bellm and her team.

Members can create personal profiles on the site with photographs to showcase their wares online.